Steamworld Build

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 2560x1440 with High settings in Steamworld Build?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers an average of 160 FPS at 2560x1440 on High settings, with no minimum or maximum frame data recorded for that configuration.

Q: How does the RTX 4090's memory bandwidth compare to its raw compute throughput?

A: The RTX 4090 features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, while its FP32 compute reaches 82.58 TFLOPS. This combination supports the high frame rates seen in the measured results.

Q: What is the CPU's multi-threaded performance in Cinebench R23?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 scores 42,216 points in Cinebench R23 multi-core, which places it in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs tested. Its single-core score in the same test is 5,960 points.

Q: Which settings preset at 1920x1080 yields the highest average FPS?

A: The Low preset at 1920x1080 produces the highest measured average at 416 FPS. The Medium preset follows with 336 FPS, while High and Ultra deliver 252 FPS and 170 FPS, respectively.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested system combinations for this game?

A: The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 64th out of 3,706 tested combos in Steamworld Build, placing it in the top 2% of all systems evaluated.

Q: What is the only resolution where a minimum frame rate was recorded?

A: Minimum frame rates were only captured at the Medium settings preset across all three resolutions: 96 FPS at 3840x2160, 182 FPS at 2560x1440, and 286 FPS at 1920x1080. All other presets lack min/max data.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 serves as the primary rendering engine in this configuration, and its specifications directly explain the frame rates observed in Steamworld Build. Built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process at TSMC, the GPU packs 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. Its boost clock reaches 2,520 MHz, while the base clock sits at 2,235 MHz. The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory operates across a 384-bit bus, yielding 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth — a figure that becomes critical at higher resolutions where texture data and scene complexity scale rapidly.

The RTX 4090's pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s provide the raw throughput necessary for the dense city-building visuals in Steamworld Build. At 3840x2160, the GPU pushes an average of 85 FPS on High settings, but this drops to 57 FPS on Ultra — a 33% reduction that reflects the heavier shading and post-processing loads. The jump from Low to Medium at 4K is substantial: 148 FPS to 113 FPS, indicating that Medium introduces meaningful visual effects that tax the GPU without crippling performance. The RTX 4090's 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 512 tensor cores suggest headroom for future driver optimizations, though the measured data shows the current state.

Benchmark results place the RTX 4090 in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 60,347. Its nearest rivals in the database include the Intel Arc Pro A60 (0% delta), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (0.3% ahead), AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (2.5% behind), and AMD Radeon PRO V710 (2.9% ahead). The negligible deltas against these professional-grade cards underscore that the RTX 4090's gaming-oriented design still competes favorably in synthetic workloads, though Steamworld Build's measured FPS tells a more practical story.

The GPU's memory configuration deserves attention for this genre. City builders like Steamworld Build accumulate large numbers of entities, buildings, and simulation state, all of which consume VRAM. The 24 GB capacity ensures no memory pressure even at 4K Ultra, where the 57 FPS average is likely bound by compute rather than storage. The 1.01 TB/s bandwidth also prevents bottlenecks when streaming textures during camera pans across a developed city — a common scenario in the game.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 provides the logical foundation for this combo, with 20 cores and 20 threads running at a base clock of 2.40 GHz and boost up to 5.30 GHz. This Arrow Lake-S architecture chip, built on TSMC's 3 nm process, features 30 MB of shared L3 cache plus 3 MB of L2 per core. The dual-channel DDR5 memory interface delivers 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth, which feeds the CPU's simulation and game logic tasks. Steamworld Build's city-building mechanics rely heavily on single-threaded performance for pathfinding, resource allocation, and UI responsiveness, while background simulation threads can utilize the multi-core capacity.

The CPU's benchmark results illustrate its capability profile. In Cinebench R23, the 265 scores 42,216 multi-core and 5,960 single-core, placing it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. PassMark multi-thread performance reaches 49,682, while single-thread scores 4,689. The data compression score of 522,983 and floating-point math score of 172,776 indicate strong throughput for non-graphics workloads. These numbers suggest the CPU is not the limiting factor in Steamworld Build, particularly when paired with a GPU as powerful as the RTX 4090.

The nearest CPU rivals in the database show how tightly clustered the 265's performance is. The AMD EPYC 4464P scores 64,823 (0.3% ahead), the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F scores 64,438 (0.3% behind), the AMD EPYC 7343 scores 64,202 (0.7% behind), and the AMD EPYC 9124 scores 65,104 (0.7% ahead). These deltas are within noise, indicating that the 265's average benchmark score of 64,640 represents a stable performance tier. For Steamworld Build, the CPU's 20 threads ensure smooth simulation updates even when the GPU is rendering at high FPS.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes provide ample headroom for the RTX 4090, which uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface. The 3 nm process node and 17,800 million transistors yield a die size of 243 mm², a compact design that keeps power efficiency high. In practical terms, this means the CPU can sustain boost clocks during extended play sessions without thermal throttling, which is essential for maintaining consistent frame delivery in a game that runs for hours per session.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 64th out of 3,706 tested combos in Steamworld Build, placing it in the top 1.7% of all systems evaluated. This ranking reflects the synergy between a high-end CPU and a flagship GPU — neither component bottlenecks the other in this title. The 93rd percentile CPU performance and 88th percentile GPU performance combine to deliver frame rates that exceed the refresh rates of most monitors at every resolution tested.

The rank of 64 is notable because it sits below the absolute top systems, which likely use newer or more specialized hardware, but it still outperforms the vast majority of configurations. The measured FPS data confirms this: at 1920x1080, the combo achieves 416 FPS on Low and 252 FPS on High, demonstrating that the CPU can feed the GPU enough data to saturate even a 360 Hz display. At 3840x2160, the 85 FPS average on High is well above the 60 FPS target for 4K gaming, while Ultra drops to 57 FPS — a borderline result for 60 Hz panels.

The ranking also highlights the diminishing returns of higher settings. Moving from High to Ultra at 2560x1440 costs 52 FPS (160 to 108), a 32.5% reduction, while the visual improvement may be marginal in a city-building game where the camera often zooms out. The measured data suggests this combo is best utilized at High settings for competitive frame rates, or Medium for a balance of fidelity and smoothness.

The GPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks — all within 3% — do not appear in the combo ranking for this game, which means the RTX 4090's real-world performance in Steamworld Build is determined by its specific strengths rather than synthetic scores. The 64th rank among 3,706 combos indicates that systems with newer GPUs or higher-clocked CPUs may edge ahead, but the 265 + 4090 pairing provides a stable, high-performance baseline.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the High settings preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all three resolutions. At 1920x1080, High delivers 252 FPS average, which exceeds the refresh rate of virtually all gaming monitors. At 2560x1440, High achieves 160 FPS, comfortably above the 144 Hz standard. Even at 3840x2160, High maintains 85 FPS, which is smooth for a city builder where precise camera control matters more than reaction time.

The Ultra preset, while visually richer, imposes significant performance costs. At 4K, Ultra drops to 57 FPS average, which may introduce perceptible stutter during rapid camera movements. At 1440p, Ultra delivers 108 FPS, which is playable but sacrifices the headroom that High provides. The Medium preset offers a midpoint: 336 FPS at 1080p, 214 FPS at 1440p, and 113 FPS at 4K, with recorded minimums of 286, 182, and 96 FPS respectively. These minimums indicate that Medium maintains consistent frame delivery even in complex scenes.

For players targeting 60 FPS at 4K, High is the clear choice — 85 FPS average provides a 41.7% buffer above the threshold. For competitive or high-refresh-rate play at 1080p, Low at 416 FPS is unnecessary unless the display supports ultra-high refresh rates. The Low preset at 1440p (280 FPS) and 4K (148 FPS) also exceeds 144 Hz, making it viable for esports-style play, though the visual compromises are substantial. The data suggests Medium is the optimal choice for 4K displays with VRR, as the 96 FPS minimum stays above typical 60 Hz VRR ranges.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: 416 FPS average
• Medium: 336 FPS average (286 min, 387 max)
• High: 252 FPS average
• Ultra: 170 FPS average

The 1080p results show a clear scaling pattern. Low to Medium costs 80 FPS (19.2% reduction), Medium to High costs 84 FPS (25% reduction), and High to Ultra costs 82 FPS (32.5% reduction). The consistent ~80 FPS drop per tier suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck at this resolution, with each preset adding similar computational load.

2560x1440:

• Low: 280 FPS average
• Medium: 214 FPS average (182 min, 246 max)
• High: 160 FPS average
• Ultra: 108 FPS average

At 1440p, the scaling becomes more pronounced. Low to Medium drops 66 FPS (23.6%), Medium to High drops 54 FPS (25.2%), and High to Ultra drops 52 FPS (32.5%). The percentage reductions are nearly identical to 1080p, indicating that the GPU's workload scales proportionally with resolution and settings.

3840x2160:

• Low: 148 FPS average
• Medium: 113 FPS average (96 min, 130 max)
• High: 85 FPS average
• Ultra: 57 FPS average

The 4K results show the steepest absolute drops. Low to Medium costs 35 FPS (23.6%), Medium to High costs 28 FPS (24.8%), and High to Ultra costs 28 FPS (32.9%). The 57 FPS Ultra average is the only sub-60 result in the entire dataset, highlighting the extreme GPU load at max settings with 4K resolution. The Medium preset's 96 FPS minimum confirms that even demanding scenes maintain playable frame rates, while High's 85 FPS average provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS.